Dee Cadavillo takes pictures of her sister Andi Cadavillo both from San Jose and nephew James Rances 11 months old as they dig into lunch at International Plaza Saturday November 19, 2011.

Dee Cadavillo takes pictures of her sister Andi Cadavillo both from San Jose and nephew James Rances 11 months old as they dig into lunch at International Plaza Saturday November 19, 2011.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Commerce on a roll - not just food trucks

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We've gone from drive-ins to drive-aways here in San Francisco. Nowhere is that more apparent than South of Market, where the food-truck phenomenon has taken a new turn on 11th Street with creation of a food-truck lot.

Some cat on the 400 block got the idea of taking a parking lot, putting in picnic tables and large tents - complete with heaters and TV sets - and renting out a slew of spaces to a collection of food trucks. One group pulls in for the lunch trade, then another bunch rolls in for dinner.

Now, if I were still mayor, I'd want to make sure these four-wheel wonders are paying attention to such things as overtime laws, workers' health plans, sewage fees and the like.

From the looks of things, these operations are dealing mostly in cash.

The other day, I spotted something I'd never thought I'd see - someone selling ready-wear clothing out of a truck.

As you can imagine, the old brick-and-mortar businesses are not at all happy about all this.

The only one on 11th Street that seemed to be doing a healthy business was Don Ramon's, which is still the most popular hangout for the cops and attorneys from the Hall of Justice.

Some things, thank goodness, never change.

Eliana Lopez, the Venezuelan telenovela actress and star of the reality TV show "The Trials of Ross Mirkarimi," put on quite a show before the Ethics Commission. From her entrance to City Hall from a black limo, to her winking and mugging on the witness stand, she was very much in command. A total actress.

Not at all the whimpering wife whom we had only seen tearfully pointing to her bruised arm and saying, "This is not the first time."

Not once, however, during her testimony did anyone ask her if she saw the certified document in which her husband, the suspended sheriff, pleaded guilty to the charge of false imprisonment.

That statement and that statement alone is the only salient fact in the case that the Ethics Commission and possibly the Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide.

Everything else is superfluous. Entertaining as hell for the media, but superfluous.

Clint Reilly and Kevin O'Brien, the man who made KTVU, were spotted dining together at the North Beach Restaurant the other night. I don't know what they were plotting, but it was the first time in weeks that owner Lorenzo Petroni wasn't pounding the table over the disruption the Central Subway project will bring to the neighborhood.

I sympathize with the restaurant owners who will see Columbus Avenue torn up the way Union Square has been torn up for months, but the city has no choice. It must proceed with the realignment of the underground utilities for the subway or pay a fortune to the contractors for lost time.

The restaurant owners are not going to win any points by making this a North Beach vs. Chinatown fight. Not only will it divide the town, they won't win.

P.S.: I have a client who has a piece of the Central Subway action. But that doesn't influence my view one bit - I've been a lover, sponsor and pusher of the project from the start.

A stroll through what must be one of the most interesting neighborhoods in the city, and certainly home to one of the most interest uses of shipping containers - Hayes Valley.

Start at about Oak Street and Octavia Boulevard and wander all the way up to Hayes Street itself. There's the Biergarten, where starting at 5 o'clock almost every day, people line up 30, 40, 50 strong - all for the purpose of getting a beer. It's virtually serve yourself and it's lots of outdoor fun.

Two more steps and you're in Smitten, an ice cream parlor tucked into a shipping container. Then you wander with your cone just around the next bend, and there's a coffee shop at the back side of a container.

It's all part of the rebirth of the neighborhood where the Central Freeway once stood. What a blast. Take a walk and enjoy San Francisco at its best.

The nurses have been trying to use their political influence to leverage a favorable contract out of California Pacific parent Sutter Health. They were also the major financiers of the hit pieces put out against Mayor Ed Lee for the benefit of state Sen. Leland Yee in last year's election.

It may be coincidence or accident, but they are clearly not at the table and are scrambling to get back.

Movie time: "Savages." Oliver Stone has done it again. His newest is well worth seeing.

Yes, it's brutal and laced with drug cartels and corrupt DEA agents. But it's entertaining. Salma Hayek is absolutely perfect, and John Travolta is his usual incredible self.

And the three nobodies -Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson and Blake Lively - at the center of the story are just superb.

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